As-salamu alaykum! Alhamdulillah, we actually stopped at Ayah number 22 last time. And you know what? I really wanted to come back to that same part, to verse 22 again, because honestly, the meaning in this ayah is just so deep.
Tafseer of Surah Mulk Ayah No 22 and 23
In verse No. 22, where Allah Almighty says,
(۲۲) اَفَمَنْ یَّمْشِیْ مُكِبًّاعَلٰى وَجْهِهٖۤ اَهْدٰۤى اَمَّنْ یَّمْشِیْ سَوِیًّاعَلٰى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِیْمٍ
Which means, “Then is one who walks fallen on his face better guided or one who walks erect on a straight path?” Imagine how you can balance these two people at the same level; they cannot be the same.
The one who is falling on his face doesn’t know his direction, where he is going, where he is banging himself, or where he is going, he doesn’t have any idea, he is just human being. So, called that, he is an educated or a professor or you know doctor or whatever, but yet he is completely blind, he doesn’t know the purpose of life. He is completely like the one Allah Almighty said about him.
He is fallen on his face, he doesn’t know his direction, can you compare him with the one, who is on the straight path, {اَمَّنْ یَّمْشِیْ سَوِیًّا} walking straight, {عَلٰى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِیْمٍ} straight path.
He knows what to do, he know what not to do, he knows to follow the commandments of Allah Almighty. He knows to follow the instructions and the guidance of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and, he knows his way and, it doesn’t matter, maybe the first person, the one, who is following on his faith, he could be that he is a professor or engineer or a lawyer or a doctor, whatsoever.
But he is misguided, he doesn’t know the purpose of the life, he does not know that there is here after something called grave.
He doesn’t know that there is something called accountability, the day of resurrection, but from the other side the one, who is on the straight path, he could be a simple man, he could be a cleaner, he could be just a clerk or he could be anything.
But, he knows the purpose of life, he know that, he is in this world to worship Allah Almighty with every single act, within himself, within his family member with his children, with his community, with his society with the country with everything, he knows, how to worship Allah Almighty, he is worshiping Allah in every single act, he is worshiping Allah five times a day.
Doing the five obligatory prayers, he is worshiping Allah once a year in Ramadan by fasting the monk, he is following the path, he’s helping the community, he is helping the people.
How you can manage these both things even though, he is a simple man, but he is better than this doctor, engineer and the who’s completely fallen on his face. His direction and, he is living and, he is living and, he thinks that, you know there’s no purpose of life.
Yes, we eat, we drink, we earn money and save them, that’s all no this is not everything. Allah Almighty will question you on the day of judgment, what you did in this world? Where exactly did you follow the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in your life. Did you really follow the instructions and do’s and don’ts of Allah Almighty, what was really your purpose in this life?
At that time, you will know that ‘yes’, I’m completely lost because, i denied, when i got a massage from someone or alert from someone or i read something on internet or i watched something or i read Quran or i read some articles about Islam or something about the true religion of Allah Almighty. But, i denied all these things, so, then you have to pay for it. Remember that!
So, we finished the ayah No. 22 and now we were talk about the most beloved and wonderful ayah No. 23, also my favorite, when ever i read Surah Mulk, i read this ayah 2 times, because, i loved to read this ayah.
Trust me, when you start reading Surah Al-Mulk full everynight, you “Iman” will increaded and you will find your real purpose of life.
Allah (SWT) says in Ayah No. 23,
(۲۳) قُلْ هُوَالَّذِیْۤ اَنْشَاَ كُمْ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْاَبْصَارَوَالْاَفْـٕدَةَؕ-قَلِیْلًا مَّا تَشْكُرُوْنَ
Which means, “Say, ‘It is He who has produced you and made for you hearing and vision and hearts; little are you grateful’.” So, it is very important to ponder upon each and every letter and word that Allah Almighty is telling me and you and everyone.
Allah Almighty says, {قُلْ} “say o Muhammad” remember, whenever Allah Almighyt says, {قُلْ} in the Quran, which means Allah is commanding Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to say to the people, either Muslims or non-Muslims, believers or non-believers. So, Allah Almighty telling to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), {قُلْ} say o Muhammad, to them, say what?
هُوَ الَّذِیْۤ اَنْشَاَ كُمْ
He is the one, who is he Allah Almighty, he is the one who produced you, who created you. So, now Allah Almighty is telling us that he is the one who made me and you and everyone, he created us, he produced us and what he did?
{وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْاَبْصَارَ وَالْاَفْـٕدَةَؕ}, means, three things, he made for you, {السَّمْعَ}, “Hearing”, {وَالْاَبْصَارَ}, “Your Vision, Your Sight”, {وَالْاَفْـٕدَةَؕ}, “Your Heart”. But, you know the result of giving you hearing and giving you the vision and giving you the heart. Allah Almighty saying here,
قَلِیْلًا مَّا تَشْكُرُوْنَ
Which means, Only few of you are thanful to Allah (SWT) and that’s the big problem that Allah Almighty is giving us blessings. Allah is giving and showering us, his blessings and keep giving and giving, but yet we people, we human being, we don’t care, we are really you know less, when it comes to grateful to be showing our gratitude to Allah Almighty, we are not greatful to Allah (SWT).
Imagine that, nowadays the time of science and technology, medicine and all these things, you know, what the doctors and the scientists they came to know, that when the baby is in his mother’s womb, the first thing that the baby is developing is what “hearing”.
This is what Allah Almighty says that, “He is the one, who produced you and, he created you and he made for you number one.” {السَّمْعَ}, you are hearing.
Imagine, this Quran was revealed more than 1440 years ago, who told Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, that when the babies being created in the mother’s womb, the first thing that, he will develop or he will be able to feel is hearing. At that time is no doctors, no scientist nothing.
So, this confirms that this book is coming from the source, which is Allah Almighty. The creator, the lord of the universe, the one who deserved to be worshipped and them he says, {وَالْاَبْصَارَ}, “Your Vision, Your Sight” So after hearing, what developed next?
The eyesight and then, {وَالْاَفْـٕدَةَؕ}, “Your Heart”, Allah Almighty is saying this for, of course the newborn baby or the baby being developed in the mother’s womb, but also us Allah gave you ear, so you can hear, you can listen what is right and what’s wrong the truth, so you can follow it, you hear the wrong things, so, you avoide it and Allah Almighty says, well so you will see the right things, you will see the right path, you will see, what is wrong?
So, basically, you get the chance to stay away from what’s wrong and you can clearly see what is actually right. And the idea is, you should follow what’s right! Because think about it – after you hear the truth, after you see the truth with your own eyes, your heart, deep down, it kind of knows what’s right, you know? Your heart confirms it to you. You’ve heard the truth, you’ve seen the truth – it should sink into your heart, and you really should act on it and follow it.
But here’s the thing that’s kind of surprising: even after all of that, even when it’s so clear, a lot of people still just they don’t thank Allah Almighty. That’s why Allah actually points it out in the Quran,
He says: “{قَلِیْلًا مَّا تَشْكُرُوْنَ}” – which means, “very few of them are grateful.” Like, just a tiny, tiny number of people actually show thanks.
Conclusion
So, let’s all pray that Allah makes us the kind of people who really listen to what’s right and true, and then actually follow it. People who really see and notice what’s right and true all around us, and then, we follow it and we really hold onto it in our hearts. Basically, to really live by the truth. And also, let’s ask Allah Almighty to make us, all of us, people who are always thankful to Allah and show gratitude to Him in our everyday lives.