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Analyzing Surah Al-Mulk (Part 2)

IntroductionPart 1 | Part 2

A parable

[...] Beautifully following this comparison is a truthful parable, a frequent device used in the Qur’an: “Is one who walks fallen on his face better guided or one who walks erect on a straight path?” (67:22) Whom is this talking about? This verse weighs out the status of a humiliated ‘mujrim, which means criminal (by committing shirk) to the to one living on ‘siraatim’mustaqeem’, who walks morally upright on a directed path. These guided people are ‘muttaqeen, with taqwah, with tawhid. This analogy resonates in other places of the Qur’an too for example Surah Fatiha, verse 6: Guide us to the straight path” and “Say: "Are the blind and the one who sees, equal?” (Qur’an, 6:50)



Verse 23 is a direct command to Prophet Muhammad () and by extension to the Muslim ummah: “Say: It is He who has produced you (with) hearing and vision and hearts, little are you grateful”. How do we show are gratitude for our design? After seeing our complex bodies, the visible and invisible mechanisms keeping us healthy and in motion – do we attribute a greater power to it? A person hears such information first, they have ilm (knowledge) of the message, then they see it thereby entering into ‘ayn’al yaqeen (seeing to believe), finally with conviction of the news they have haqq-ul yaqeen, which is complete certainty that it is true. A Muslim has by nature, haqq-ul yaqeen because while they are aware Allah is ‘ghaib (unseen) His creation manifests His knowledge, Mercy and control. And it is to Him that everyone will “be gathered” to testify whether they accepted His dominion or not. The Qureysh tribes mockingly questioned Prophet Muhamad about this individual Judgment and accountability “When is this promise, if you should be truthful?” (67:25) To this, a contemporary mufti could roll out a hundred answers. But even the humble Prophet Muhammad () was not informed of the date, “that knowledge is only with Allah”, and we forget today that Prophet Muhammad () was “only a clear warner” (nadheer’u’mobeen) like all the messengers before him, he was ‘bashir (bringer of news). His role was not to convert people’s hearts; that is only in Allah’s will.

Prophet Muhammad () was a Messenger of Allah but a human with emotions, immense tests and personality. Through Muhammad () Allah questions humanity “have you considered: whether Allah should cause my [Muhammad’s] death and those with me or have mercy upon us, who can protect the disbelievers from a painful punishment?” (67:28) A person committing ‘kufr could be deluded that a believer may save him, that another individual’s good deeds will be copied and pasted for their own, this is incorrect. No matter how perfect the Prophets are they cannot save the disbeliever from Hell. It is Allah who is more Merciful, and Muslims should give this message in their invitation to Islam (da’wah): “He is the most Merciful, we have believed in Him and upon Him we have relied […] you will know who is in clear error” (67:29). The last words here ‘dhalaal mobeen contrastingly echo the Prophet’s role as ‘nadheer’u’mobeen’. ‘Dhalaal’ means to be lost, committing injustice like a ‘mujrim’ towards Allah. Only in eloquent Arabic does this oxymoron make beautiful sense: to be in clear error is to be truthfully, blatantly incorrect. The last line of Al -Mulk ends with another question: “Have you considered if your water was to become sunken into the earth then who could bring you flowing water?” In pre-Islamic Arabia, the arid lands depended on water as their life source therefore Allah says be grateful for it, attribute the provision of it to Him. This is true belief of Allah’s dominion over everything.

Conclusion
Al-Mulk is a thought provoking surah that begins with Allah’s dominion, describes in depth what His dominion includes and leaves readers with the final question: if the life source was taken away, which other ‘divine dominion’ is there to rely on? The stars, the rivers, the mountains are taken for granted; it was prophets who climbed those mountains to worship Allah in solitude, it was the eco-aware sahabah (companions of Muhammad ) who used water efficiently, and it is the conscious Muslim who reads Surah Al-Mulk and prays to Allah sincerely for the blessings in His Dominion and for Jannah.

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And so ends my short assignment for Al-Maghrib! Thank yous for reading chucks. :)

3 comments:

  1. Well done Sis! Thank you so much for the analysis and discussion! I love how you explain the terms so clearly so that anyone could understand it. Awesome! May Allah Reward you and most important, may we keep these ideas as we live our daily lives. Ameen.

    PS what is a 'chock?' I know many British slang terms, but that's not one of them, lol!

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  2. @MF - Brother, chock/chuck is a Yorkshire term for friend, buddy etc. I've a Scottish friend who says 'chalk' which makes me laugh. Anywho, shookran! Jazak'Allah khairan. PS - Well done on revision, I'll come over your end for a readathon inshaAllah.

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  3. Oh, I see, thanks Sis! Hahah, chalk instead of chock! Funny!

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