Tafsir of Surah Ar-Room - Verse 59

Parables in the Qur'an and how the Disbelievers do not learn from them

وَلَقَدْ ضَرَبْنَا لِلنَّاسِ فِى هَـذَا الْقُرْءَانِ مِن كُلِّ مَثَلٍ

(And indeed We have set forth for mankind, in this Qur'an every kind of parable.) means, `We have explained the truth to them and have made it clear to them, and have set forth for them parables so that they may understand the truth and follow it.'

وَلَئِن جِئْتَهُمْ بِـَايَةٍ لَّيَقُولَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ مُبْطِلُونَ

(But if you bring to them any sign or proof, the disbelievers are sure to say (to the believers): "You follow nothing but falsehood and magic.") If they were to see any kind of sign, whether it was at their own direction or otherwise, they would not believe in it and they would think that it was magic and falsehood, as they said when the moon was cleft asunder, etc., as Allah says:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ - وَلَوْ جَآءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ ءايَةٍ حَتَّى يَرَوُاْ الْعَذَابَ الاٌّلِيمَ

(Truly, those, against whom the Word of your Lord has been justified, will not believe. Even if every sign should come to them, until they see the painful torment.) (10:96-97). Allah says here:

كَذَلِكَ يَطْبَعُ اللَّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِ الَّذِينَ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ فَاصْبِرْ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ

(Thus does Allah seal up the hearts of those who know not. So be patient. Verily, the promise of Allah is true;) meaning, `bear their stubborn opposition with patience, for Allah will fulfill His promise to grant you victory over them and cause you and those who follow you to prevail in this world and in the Hereafter.'

وَلاَ يَسْتَخِفَّنَّكَ الَّذِينَ لاَ يُوقِنُونَ

(and let not those who have no certainty of faith discourage you (from conveying Allah's Message).) `Remain steadfast in the mission with which Allah has sent you, for it is truth in which there is no doubt. Do not turn away from it, for nowhere else is there truth which is to be followed; the truth rests exclusively in the Message with which you have been sent.'

Reports concerning the Virtues of this Surah and that it is recommended to recite it during Fajr

Imam Ahmad recorded from a man among the Companions of the Prophet that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ led them in Fajr prayer and recited Ar-Rum in the prayer, but he became confused in his recitation. He said:

«إِنَّهُ يَلْبِسُ عَلَيْنَا الْقُرْآنَ، فَإِنَّ أَقْوَامًا مِنْكُمْ يُصَلُّونَ مَعَنَا لَا يُحْسِنُونَ الْوُضُوءَ، فَمَنْ شَهِدَ مِنْكُمُ الصَّلَاةَ مَعَنَا فَلْيُحْسِنِ الْوُضُوء»

(We have become confused in our recitation of Qur'an, because some people among you are praying with us but they have not performed Wudu' properly. Whoever attends the prayer with us, let him perform Wudu' properly.) This has a Hasan chain of narration, the text itself is Hasan. It contains amazing information, that the Prophet was affected by the faulty Wudu' of some of those whom he was leading in prayer. This indicates that the prayer of the person who is praying in the congregation is connected to the prayer of the Imam. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Ar-Rum. Allah's is the praise and thanks.

After this, the falsehood and ignorance of the deniers of the Dooms Day is mentioned وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ يُقْسِمُ الْمُجْرِ‌مُونَ مَا لَبِثُوا غَيْرَ‌ سَاعَةٍ that is, ‘When the Dooms Day will come, these deniers of the Dooms Day will start swearing by losing senses after looking at the horrid scenes, that their stay was not more than one hour'. It is probable that the stay referred to here is the stay in this world, because they spent the time in this world in comfort and ease. And when they will encounter troubles in the Hereafter, they, by way of a natural habit of man to regard the comfortable period of his life very short, will swear that they lived in the world hardly for one hour.

The other probability is that this 'stay' is their stay in graves and barzakh. In that case, the meaning would be that they had thought that their stay in graves, that is barzakh, would be very long and the Dooms Day would come after a long period, but it would seem to them that they stayed in barzakh for a very short time, and the Day of Judgment dawned too early. The reason for this feeling is that they will not find any comfort for themselves in the Hereafter, rather it will bring nothing but problems for them. And it is human nature that when he is taken over by problems, he considers the time previously spent in comfort being very short-lived. Although the barzakh is also a place of punishment for the infidels, yet it is much lighter as compared to what they will come across in Qiyamah. Hence they will regard the period of barzakh as very short and swear that their stay in it was brief.

Would anyone be able to lie before Allah on the Day of Resurrection?

It is revealed in this verse that the infidels will lie on the Day of Resurrection in their swearing that they did not stay in the world or barzakh for more than an hour. It is also revealed in another verse that the disbelievers will say on oath that they were not disbelievers وَاللَّـهِ رَ‌بِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشْرِ‌كِينَ (By Allah, our Lord, we ascribed no partners to Allah - 6:23). What needs to be understood here is that it will be Allah's court on the Day of Resurrection, and He will allow all and sundry to say whatever one wishes to say, whether one lies or speaks the truth. Allah is All-Knowledgeable and is not dependent on any one to find out what is false and what is true. When any one will speak a lie, his mouth will be sealed, and his skin, hair and limbs will be asked to give evidence. They will relate the truth in full detail, after which the liar will be left with no excuse. The verse الْيَوْمَ نَخْتِمُ عَلَىٰ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَتُكَلِّمُنَا أَيْدِيهِمْ (Today We set a seal on their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us. - 36:65) means the same. Some other Qur'anic verses reveal that there will be different occasions for the appearance of human beings before Allah Ta’ ala on the Day of Resurrection. On one such occasion, no one will have the right to speak without permission from Allah Ta’ ala, and he will have to speak nothing but truth. It will not be possible for him to speak a lie, as stated in the verse لَّا يَتَكَلَّمُونَ إِلَّا مَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ الرَّ‌حْمَـٰنُ وَقَالَ صَوَابًا (They shall speak not, save him to whom the All-Merciful has given leave, and who speaks aright - 78:38).

No one will be able to speak a lie in the grave

As against this, it is related in some authentic ahadith in regard to questions and answers in the grave that when it will be asked from the infidels ` who is your Lord?' and ` who is Muhammad?' they will answer ھَاہ ھَاہ لَا اَدرِی That is ` Alas! I do not know anything'. If it were possible to speak a lie, he would have said ` Allah is my Lord' and ` Muhammad is His Prophet ﷺ .' It looks rather strange that infidels are capable of speaking lies before Allah Ta’ ala, but not before the angels. But when it is looked at deeply, the explanation is simple, that is the angels neither have the knowledge of the unknown nor can they seek evidence from the limbs to confute the liar. If they had the capability of speaking lies before the angels, then all infidels and sinners would have been carefree about the torment of the grave. On the other hand, Allah Ta’ ala knows even the secrets of hearts, and also has the power to elicit evidence from the limbs and organs for exposing the liars. Therefore, allowing this freedom on the Day of Resurrection will not interfere with the rule of justice. وَاللہُ اَعلَم

Surah Ar-Rum was completed by grace of Allah on 28th of Dhulqa'dah, 1391 Hijrah.

Al-Hamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah Ar-Rum

Ends here.

The people of Makkah used to tell the Prophet, if he was really a prophet, he should perform a superhuman, supernatural miracle. But, this demand was not acceded to, because an exhibition of the paranormal was not expected to serve the real purpose. The real purpose of Islam was to ensure that people’s course of action changed, and such a change can be initiated only by bringing about a change in ways of thinking and not by stunning people with supernatural feats. The Quran, therefore, lays the utmost emphasis on reasoning. It wants to change the minds of the people on the strength of arguments. It wants to make people capable of seeing things in the proper perspective and of forming correct opinions. In fact, the real problem of man is that he falls short of right thinking. If right thinking is not engendered in man, even after seeing wonderful feats and miracles, he will utter the same foolish words in the same mindless manner as he did earlier. One’s heart being sealed means one’s not being capable of understanding things due to ignorance and wrong thinking. If an individual lacks the ability to form correct opinions, he can neither see things in their proper perspective nor learn fitting lessons from them. A subject of God who comes forward with the pure call for Truth always has to face a discouraging reaction from the people. The dayee talks exclusively of the Hereafter, while people’s minds are engaged in solving worldly problems. For this reason, people look down upon him. They always try to defeat him in every way, so much so that an atmosphere is created in which the preacher’s words appear to be lacking in weight. Such circumstances place the dayee in a situation of trial along with his addressees. At that time it becomes necessary for him not to lose his conviction. If, under the pressure of circumstances, he loses his conviction, he will start saying such things by way of compromise as may be important in the eyes of the general public, but which in the eyes of God will be of negligible importance.