Tafsir of Surah At-Taghabun - Verse 2

Which was revealed in Al-Madinah or Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

(In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Praising Allah and mentioning His Creation and Knowledge

This is the last Surah among Al-Musabbihat. We mentioned before that all creatures praise the glory of Allah, their Creator and Owner. Allah the Exalted said,

لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ

(His is the dominion, and to Him belongs the praise,) meaning, He is the One Who has control over all creation, the One praised for all He created and decreed. Allah's statement,

وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

(and He is Able to do all things.) means that whatever He wills occurs without resistance, and whatever He does not will, never occurs. Allah said,

هُوَ الَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنكُمْ كَافِرٌ وَمِنكُمْ مُّؤْمِنٌ

(He it is Who created you, then some of you are disbelievers and some of you are believers.) meaning, Allah created you with these characteristics and He willed that for you. Therefore, there will be believers and disbelievers. Surely, Allah is the One Who sees those who deserve guidance and those who deserve misguidance. He is the Witness over His servant's deeds and He will completely recompense them. This is why Allah the Exalted said,

وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ

(And Allah is All-Seer of what you do. ) Allah said,

خَلَقَ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالأَرْضَ بِالْحقِّ

(He has created the heavens and the earth with truth,) with equity and wisdom,

وَصَوَّرَكُمْ فَأَحْسَنَ صُوَرَكُمْ

(and He shaped you and made good your shapes.) He made you in the best shapes and forms. Allah the Exalted said,

يأَيُّهَا الإِنسَـنُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ الْكَرِيمِ - الَّذِى خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّاكَ فَعَدَلَكَ - فِى أَىِّ صُورَةٍ مَّا شَآءَ رَكَّبَكَ

(O man! What has made you careless about your Lord, the most Generous Who created you, fashioned you perfectly and gave you due proportion; in whatever form He willed, He put you together.) (82:6-8) And His saying,

اللَّهُ الَّذِى جَعَـلَ لَكُـمُ الاٌّرْضَ قَـرَاراً وَالسَّمَآءَ بِنَـآءً وَصَوَّرَكُـمْ فَأَحْسَنَ صُوَرَكُـمْ وَرَزَقَكُـمْ مِّنَ الطَّيِّبَـتِ

(Allah, it is He Who has made for you the earth as a dwelling place and the sky as a canopy, and has given you shape and made your shapes good (looking) and has provided you with good things.) (40:64) and His saying;

وَإِلَيْهِ الْمَصِيرُ

(And to Him is the return.) means the return and final destination. Allah then informs of His knowledge of all that there is in the heavens, in the earth and in the souls, He said:

يَعْلَمُ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُسِرُّونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمُ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ

(He knows what is in the heavens and on earth, and He knows what you conceal and what you reveal. And Allah is the All-Knower of what is in the breasts.)

Commentary

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنكُمْ كَافِرٌ‌ وَمِنكُم مُّؤْمِنٌ (He is the One who created you, then some of you are disbelievers, and some of you are believers…64:2). In the phrase fa-minkum, the particle ‘fa’ [ translated here as ‘then’] denotes ‘one thing happening after another’. In this instance, the phrase ‘khalaqakum’ [ created you ] indicates that at the inception of creation there were no unbelievers [ kafis ]. Human beings were, subsequently, divided into believers and non-believers by their own free will and choice with which Allah has invested them. They are rewarded or punished on account of exercising the free will and choice. A Prophetic Tradition states: کُلُّ مَولُودٍ یُّولَدُ علَی الفِطرَۃِ فَاَبَوَاہُ یُھِّدَانِہٖ وَ یُنَصِّرَانِہٖ (Everyone is born a Muslim, but his parents make him a Jew, a Christian…) [ Qurtubi ].

Two Nations Theory

The Holy Qura’ n has divided mankind here into two groups: a believing group and a non-believing one. This indicates that the children of ‘Adam (علیہ السلام) is one single brotherhood, and all human beings are members of this brotherhood. Kufr [ unbelief ] is the only dividing line that severs relationship with this brotherhood and creates another group. He who becomes a Kafir has severed the relationship of human brotherhood. Thus group-formation can only take place on the basis of ‘Iman and Kufr. Neither colour nor language, neither lineage nor family, neither land, territory or geographical region can divide human brotherhood into rival groups. The offspring of one father may live in different cities, or use different languages, or have different colours, but it does not divide them into different groups. Despite differences of colour, language, country or territory, they are members of the same brotherhood. No sane person will ever regard them as different groups.

In the Days of Ignorance, ethnicity and tribal divisions had become the basis of factionalism but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ broke down these idols, which they pursued. By the express text of the Holy Qur’ an اِنَّمَا المُؤمِنُونَ اِخوَۃٌ ‘All believers are but brothers’ irrespective of their country or territory, their colour or family, or their language. They all belong to one brotherhood. So likewise, the non-believers, in the sight of Islam, belong to a single community.

The above verse also bears evidence to the fact that Allah has divided all mankind into two groups – the believers and the non-believers. The variety of the perfect power of Allah, and having many socio-economic benefits, it is a great blessing, but it is not permitted to use it as the basis of factionalism or group-foration among mankind.

Moreover, the binary division of mankind on the basis of ‘Iman and Kufr is a matter of free will and choice. Both ‘Iman and Kufr may be adopted by one’ s free will. If a person chooses out of his own free will to abandon his group and join another, he can do it very easily: He may give up his articles of faith, choose another faith and thus join the other group. On the other hand, the affiliations of race, lineage, colour, language or territory are not within the power or control of anyone. No one can change his affiliation with his race, colour or language.

It is this Islamic brotherhood that, in a short span of time, from east to west, north to south, white and black, and Arabs and non-Arabs, whose might and power could not be resisted by the nations of the world, and therefore they revived once again the idols that were shattered by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Islam. They partitioned the one mighty ummah and Muslims in to small bits and pieces of nations based on territory, homeland, language and colour, race and lineage, and caused them to collide with one another. This cleared the way for the enemies of Islam to attack, the consequences of which are visible to every eye today. The Muslims of east and west were one nation and one heart, but are now divided into small groups fighting one another. As against this, the Shaitanic forces of Kufr, despite mutual disagreements, look like a united force against the Muslims.

The history made by the prophets in ancient times is an eternal source of admonition. For example, prophets appeared among the ‘Ad, the Thamud, the people of Madyan, and the community of Lot. These prophets did not possess any supernatural powers to prove their veracity. They had only reasoning in their favour. Rejection of the Truth in spite of its being backed by reasoning made the doubters liable for punishment. This shows that in this world a man is tested by his ability to recognise the Truth on the basis of reasoning. One who fails to do so will always remain deprived of the Truth.